Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 11,563 The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU)

Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 11,563 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $141,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James & Associates grew its position in shares of Western Union by 22.9% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 42,931 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $512,000 after purchasing an additional 7,989 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Western Union by 1,092.6% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,462 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 5,004 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in shares of Western Union by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 80,808 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $963,000 after purchasing an additional 10,903 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Western Union in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Finally, Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. boosted its position in Western Union by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 59,802 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $713,000 after acquiring an additional 4,768 shares during the last quarter. 91.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Western Union from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Western Union from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. StockNews.com lowered shares of Western Union from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $13.00 price target on shares of Western Union in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.14.

Western Union Stock Performance

Shares of WU stock opened at $11.80 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $12.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $12.82. The Western Union Company has a 52 week low of $10.92 and a 52 week high of $14.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.98. The company has a market cap of $3.99 billion, a PE ratio of 6.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.85.

Western Union (NYSE:WU) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by ($0.01). Western Union had a net margin of 13.64% and a return on equity of 123.71%. The business had revenue of $1.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.06 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.51 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Western Union Company will post 1.77 EPS for the current year.

Western Union Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.62%.

About Western Union

The Western Union Company provides money movement and payment services worldwide. The company operates through Consumer Money Transfer and Consumer Services segments. The Consumer Money Transfer segment facilitates money transfers for international cross-border and intra-country transfers, primarily through a network of retail agent locations, as well as through websites and mobile devices.